Kentucky: Audit Finds Wrongful Payments to Soldiers

By The Associated Press

Sept. 27, 2013

Even as the Army faces shrinking budgets, an audit shows it paid out $16 million in paychecks over two and a half years to soldiers designated as AWOL or as deserters. It is the second time since 2006 the military has been criticized for such an error. A memo issued by the Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, Ky., found that the Army lacked sufficient controls to enforce policies for reporting deserters and absentee soldiers to cut off their pay and benefits immediately. A failure by commanders to fill out paperwork promptly was described as the main cause of the delay. The payments from 2010 to 2012 represent only a fraction of the Army’s nearly $44 billion projected payroll for 2013.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 12 of the New York edition with the headline: Kentucky: Audit Finds Wrongful Payments To Soldiers. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe